Flexa, the crypto payment service that caused a splash in May when it was announced that it could be used in Starbucks, Whole Foods, and Nordstrom, has expanded its offering by launching in Canada. The Winklevoss twin-backed venture, which allows holders of several cryptocurrencies, including BTC, LTC, and XZC to spend their crypto using the SPEDN app, is already up and running with America’s northern neighbor on both iOS and Android, with over 7,500 retailers accepting the payment method.
Insured Crypto Custody and No FX Fees
Flexa announced the expansion via a blog post where they also confirmed that, because Flexa is built on top of cryptocurrencies and not fiat currencies, foreign exchange transactions for Americans using the app in Canada and vice versa would not apply, with deposits onto the platform protected by Gemini’s fully insured custodial service. In bringing Flexa to Canada they have teamed up with Coinsquare, Canada’s largest and most secure cryptocurrency exchange, bringing “affordable, secure, and fraud-free payments to even more people”.
Starbucks, Nordstrom and Whole Foods now accept bitcoin, ethereum and more thanks to a partnership with Flexa and support from Gemini’s Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss: https://t.co/X3JuNvsHAk by @DelRayMan pic.twitter.com/KplQfQjpwS
— Forbes Crypto (@ForbesCrypto) May 14, 2019
Flexa Has Great Potential
Flexa has clearly been busy in the three months since the awkward photo where the Winklevoss twins paid for coffee using Flexa, adding support for Litecoin in early July whilst working on this deal to bring the platform north of the border. There are of course numerous crypto payment options out there, but most enlist the use of a physical card as the payment mechanism. By doing away with that and opting, so far, for a mobile-first approach, Flexa has removed an inconvenient layer and sped up the overall process, with the fact that the app precludes considerations of foreign exchange fees making it a potentially great payment method for foreign travel, as long as adoption grows.
